netherlands 2003-4
The Netherlands witnessed a 7.5 percent
decline in numbers of antisemitic incidents in 2003, including a 40 percent
decrease in serious incidents. Antisemitism received considerable public and
media attention in 2003 and an extensive study on antisemitism was conducted in
Dutch schools.
the jewish community
An estimated 30,000 Jews live in the Netherlands today out
of some 16 million inhabitants. The majority live in Amsterdam. Dutch Jewry is
represented by three councils, based on affiliation: the Nederlands
Israelitisch Kerkgenootschap, the Verbond van Liberaal Religieuze Joden and the
Portugees Israelitisch Kerkgenootschap. The community, which sustains a variety
of religious and educational institutions, publishes the newspaper Nieuw
Israelitisch Weekblad.
extremist organizations and groups
Islamist Activity and Groups
A Dutch branch of the anti-integrationist and extremely
anti-Israel Arab European League (AEL) was inaugurated in 2003,
following the visit of Belgian AEL leader Dyab Abu Jahjah (see Belgium).
In February 2004 Nabil Marmouch was elected chairman of AEL Netherlands. The
AEL organized several demonstrations in 2003, and took advantage of others to
further its agenda. Following an anti-Iraq war demonstration held on 21 March 2003, during which an Israeli flag was burned, an AEL board member and five
sympathizers were arrested.
A number of fundamentalist Salafi imams are
known for their anti-integration and radical Islamist attitude. They direct their
preaching mainly at young Muslims. However, in 2003 the opinions expressed by
these persons in mosques and at major religious meetings appeared to be less
radical than in the past. This may be due, in part, to greater surveillance and
intervention by the local authorities and by negative publicity about them.
A small number of non-Salafi mosques, such as
the Arrahmane mosque in Amsterdam, also exhibit radicalist tendencies. The
Arrahmane mosque, the religious center of the ultra-orthodox Jamaat
al-Tabligh wal-Dawa movement, attracted attention in September 2003 due to
allegations that it was involved in recruiting young people for jihad and
supporting terrorist networks.
The Kaplan movement, or Caliphate State,
a Turkish radical Islamic organization with some hundreds of followers in the Netherlands,
has moved an increasing number of activities from Germany to the Netherlands.
The movement is banned in Germany.
The Far Right
According to the AIVD (Dutch General Intelligence and
Security Service), the far right does not pose a serious threat to the
democratic legal order in the Netherlands. The insignificant electoral
attraction of the extreme right-wing stems partly from the closed nature of the
groups that comprise it, but also from widespread repulsion among the Dutch
population against the ideas they espouse.
The far right is made up largely of unorganized
individuals and sub-cultures (both politically and non-politically motivated).
Their extremist and/or racist views are disseminated on the Internet or in CDs,
and sometimes expressed in racist violence. There is intensive interaction among
the various groups.
The New National Party (NNP) represents
the so-called civil extreme right –
that is, promoting xenophobic and ultra-nationalist ideas but conforming to
democratic mores. The Nederlandse Volks Unie (Dutch People’s Union – NVU)
represents the more militant neo-Nazi right, which is openly anti-democratic
and racist. The NVU had no noticeable growth in membership in 2003 and its
activities attracted little attention
.
ANTISEMITIC ACTIVITY
The Netherlands witnessed a 7.5 percent decline in number of
anti-Jewish incidents in 2003, including a 40 percent decrease in serious
incidents (physical violence, threats of violence and desecration of
monuments/synagogues). Moreover, the nature of these incidents was considerably
less severe. This compares to a 140 percent increase in the period January 2002–May 2003 (according to CIDI – Israel Information
and Documentation Center – records),
peaking a trend that began in 2000.
Altogether, 334 antisemitic
incidents were recorded by CIDI in 2003 compared to 359 in the previous year. Among
serious incidents, a man who was identifiably Jewish was pelted with stones and
verbally abused near the synagogue in Amsterdam West.
There were three noteworthy
trends continuing from previous years:
- Verbal abuse against Jews continued to rise. Individuals
recognizable as Jews were likely to suffer verbal abuse and threats of
violence.
- Many of the perpetrators were of North African origin. In
2003 43.5 percent of cases in which the victim claimed to recognize the
perpetrators were of North African origin, compared to 41 percent of cases
in 2002.
- The number of anti-Jewish incidents in schools has risen continuously.
This may relate to the negative bias instilled in second and
third-generation North Africans about the Middle East issue and their
growing share in Dutch schools, especially in the major cities. In
addition, slurs such as “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the gas” and “Judah, Judah,”
often heard in schools, have become socially embedded. A survey commissioned
by the Ministry of Education conducted among 11,000 teachers revealed that
half the respondents reported having heard offensive remarks about Jews
during the previous six months. About 50 percent also mentioned that they
knew students who belittled the Holocaust. Still more teachers (70
percent) said they had heard injurious remarks about Islam on one or more
occasions.
Antisemitism received
considerable public and media attention in 2003. The Foundation for Peace Education
conducted an extensive study on antisemitism in Dutch schools. Accordingly, when
asked what their families said about Jews, half the pupils responded along the
lines of: “When my family talk about Jews, they say, ‘We hate Jews. My whole
family supports the Palestinians. My dad says they [the Jews] are asking for
[trouble]’.” Moreover, a 16 year-old girl said she had learned in her Qur’an class
that the number of 6 million Jews was concocted in order to get the state of Israel
proclaimed. Speaking to the Amsterdam daily Het Parool (3 Oct. 2003), former
education alderman Rob Oudkerk stated that some teachers had told him that they
could no longer teach the Holocaust, “because the students get out of control; kids
make a lot of noise and hurl torrents of verbal abuse.”
One teacher reported that his car tire was slashed. Some were warned
over the phone: “Watch out. We know where your kid goes to school.” In an
article on antisemitism in schools published in the weekly Vrij Nederland
(29 Nov.), teacher Bas Meijer reported that some people had mistakenly thought
he was Jewish at his previous school. “I sensed their hatred when I walked past
them. They would hiss 'dirty Jew'.” Another teacher related: “At the school
where I used to teach... I sometimes told my students that part of my family
was Jewish in order to confront them with antisemitism. Nowadays I think carefully
before raising the subject... This is what people must have felt like in the
late 1930s.” During the year VVD (Dutch Liberal-Conservative Party) MP Ayaan
Hirsi Ali brought the issue of teaching the Holocaust at schools with a high
Muslim enrolment to the attention of the Dutch Council of Ministers. In
December 2003 Minister of Education Van der Hoeven agreed to launch an
investigation.
As in 2002, Israel's policy
toward the Palestinians in 2003/4 was used to justify oral and written
accusations against Jews in general of having committed the most serious offenses
known to mankind (“You're worse than the Nazis”; “You should know better”; and
“The Bush administration is controlled by the Jewish lobby”).
The Meldpunt Internet
Discriminatie (Internet Discrimination Reporting Center – MDI) monitors hate on the Internet. In its annual report for
2003, the organization recorded 514 cases of antisemitism on Dutch Internet
sites and chat boxes, compared to 584 in 2002.
Public Opinion Survey
In April 2004 the American Anti-Defamation League conducted
a survey in ten European countries. With a score of 9 percent, the Netherlands
had the lowest rate of anti-Jewish prejudice. Nevertheless, the Netherlands and
the United Kingdom were the only countries where antisemitic sentiment had
risen: from 7 to 9 percent and from 18 to 24 percent, respectively
RESPONSES to antisemitism
Official and Public Activity
The relative decline in the number and severity of
antisemitic incidents in the Netherlands compared to some other countries in
Europe may perhaps partly be explained by a more balanced approach to the
integration of minorities, the absence of a strong right-wing extremist party
dedicated to inciting ethnic unrest, and maintaining an effective network of
anti-racism organizations. Additionally, the Dutch authorities took a greater
interest in the struggle against antisemitism in Holland. Following the CIDI
report for 2002, the Dutch Lower House (Tweede Kamer) discussed this issue in
April for the first time in years. The state of alert on the part of
anti-discrimination organizations such as MDI, the National Bureau against
Racial Discrimination in Rotterdam (LBR), the Anne Frank House and CIDI may
also have been a contributing factor. On 24 October 2003 Minister of Justice Piet Hein Donner expressed concern in the Dutch Lower House about the rise
in manifestations of antisemitism. However, no supplementary policy will be drafted;
the struggle against antisemitism will be carried out within the “thorough,
broadly-based strategy against discrimination in general,” he said. Regarding
the dissemination of antisemitic propaganda in the Netherlands by foreign radio
and television stations, Minister of Migration and Integration Verdonk reported
in June 2004 that the Ministry of Justice was “presently consulting some
organizations that might monitor this [trend].”
Besides adopting a firm stand
against extremist movements and individuals, Jewish organizations such as CIDI
and the Central Jewish Council have sought to maintain and improve relations
with Muslims and Arabs in the country. For example, at the commemoration of Kristallnacht
organized in Amsterdam by the Central Jewish Council on 9 November 2003, Selami
Yüksel spoke on behalf of the Contactorgaan Moslims Overheid (Muslim liaison
organization), and an appeal against antisemitism conducted during the
commemoration was signed by Islam en Burgerschap (Islam and Citizenship) as
well as by various Christian organizations. In addition, the mayor of Amsterdam
Job Cohen has initiated a dialogue between Jewish and Islamic communities in
the city.
